Bea Attard never went hungry during the Great Depression, despite growing up in a Toronto home that included seven other children. Her father had gainful employment at Canada Packers, which meant that the family was fed and clothed, but anything beyond that was a luxury.

That’s why the annual delivery of gift boxes courtesy of the Toronto Star’s Santa Claus Fund was so eagerly anticipated. Attard, 87, still beams broadly today as she recalls the parcels containing everything from to books, toys and candies, to practical items such as warm, woollen stockings that came up to her knees.

“That was about all we got for Christmas,” she says. “We’d look out the window for hours, waiting for the truck because we knew it would be coming. The parcels came quite a bit before Christmas, but mom and dad wouldn’t let us open them. That’s OK. It was worth the wait.”

Her husband, Joe, 88, also has fond memories of being a beneficiary of the holiday charity, launched by the Star in 1906.

“My father was a hard worker,” says Joe, whose dad worked on contract as an electrician through the Depression. “But one year he said, ‘This year there will be no Christmas presents because that’s the way it is.’

“We were all disappointed. But just before Christmas a man from the Star’s Santa Claus Fund brought boxes to the house. We were old enough to be very thankful.”

The Attard’s, who have three children, one grandchild and have lived since 1966 in the same North York home, continue to express their gratitude as faithful, longtime contributors to the Santa Claus Fund, as well as to the Star’s summer Fresh Air Fund.

“We have all we need,” says Joe, “so we feel obligated to help the poor.”